| Berroco Borealis |
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| Written by Barbara Rottman | |||
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The Look The luminous color of Berroco’s new yarn for Fall 2010 will make you think of Northern Lights even before you learn its aptly chosen name, Borealis. The Aurora Borealis is a display of color and shape seen around the magnetic polar caps of the earth’s hemispheres; hence the name, Northern (or Southern) Lights. Neither Hollywood nor Bollywood could come close to replicating these phenomenal displays of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet light in all shades and forms. They are a major tourist and webcam attraction, and are now available in this glowing yarn from Berroco. It’s a bulky single ply blend of 60% acrylic and 40% wool dyed in brilliant tones with a twist of black throughout. Borealis knits into a mesmerizing swirl of color – not quite stripes and not quite random, and constantly changing. Introduce shimmering color into your wardrobe with this outstanding new yarn.
The Feel Berroco has gone soft with all their Fall 2010 yarns, and Borealis is no exception. Even though it is a bulky weight yarn (3 stitches to the inch) it is light weight and caressingly soft. Put this yarn against your cheek, close your eyes, and wish you could fall into a mattress of Borealis. If you’re a Northerner, you’ll remember the pleasure of jumping into a heap of autumn leaves – soft color and warm sun all around.
The Patterns Book #300 from Berroco features 9 new designs in Borealis. The color is on full display in accessories, pullovers, cardigans and jackets. Substitute Borealis in any bulky gauge project, but avoid overly complicated stitches, which may get lost in the color mix.
Color Range A single colorway in Borealis would be inspiring, but Berroco color artists created an astounding 10 different colorways, and each one is magnificent. Working It Borealis is meant to be knit at a relaxed gauge on large needles. Consequently, it knits quickly and easily. Garments knit at a bulky gauge require only simply shaping -- there’s not enough room at these gauges to do anything complicated. This means that knitting with Borealis should be relaxing, fun and easy. Your project will be finished quickly, unlikely to join the other forgotten dreams hidden away in the UFO closet. With knitting this easy, you will keep going, doing just one more row before allowing yourself to put it down. You can knit up a scarf, stole or hat in a short time. Borealis is very elastic; it knits into a springy, resilient fabric. If a simply knit 2 x 2 ribbed scarf looks designer inspired, think what you can do with a little more texture and shaping.
What I’d Like to Make with It Borealis is all about color, so why cover it up? The easy-to-knit double breasted coat, Dors, from Berroco’s Book #300 takes full advantage of this marvelous yarn. Simple textural touches like the deeply ribbed button bands and reverse stockinette yoke give this simple garment high style. When knit up, that little twist of black fools the eye into thinking the fabric is woven.
Knitting Outside the Box Take advantage of the softness and light weight of this super bulky yarn to knit a hat, scarf, cowl or hood. The yarn will feel luxurious around your head and face. Commit a random act of kindness by knitting a prayer or compassion shawl in Borealis and giving it to someone in need of encouragement.
Blocking It Lay flat to dry.
Washing It Hand wash in cool water.
Wearability Borealis is a very soft yarn with a cloud of short fibers on the surface. These fibers could pill, especially in a singles yarn. Since the fiber is very soft, most of the pills should brush off easily and not hang around to disfigure your garment. These short fibers can also snag on jewelry, buttons, hangnails and Velcro, but any snags can be readily worked back into the reverse side of this loosely knit yarn. Don’t use Borealis for garments that have exposure to rugged wear but reserve it for more genteel use. Overall Recommendation: For unusual color at your fingertips that cannot be replicated, choose Borealis. I rate it #10.
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